A FANTE ASAFO COTTON APPLIQUÉ PENNANT FLAG

GHANA, MID-20TH CENTURY

Details

A FANTE ASAFO COTTON APPLIQUÉ PENNANT FLAG
GHANA, MID-20TH CENTURY
With the corner of the Union Jack to the top left, depicting an antelope on an elephant, a man with weighing scales, another with a stitched gun and a man with a bucket, on an indigo ground with tassel edges, later mounted onto a canvas frame
44 in. (112 cm.) high; 83 in. (211 cm.) wide

Literature

John Gillow, African Textiles, 2003, pg.3.

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Lot Essay

Of unusual form, this flag symbolises three different proverbs. The central figure of the antelope on top of the elephant illustrates the proverb ‘The elephant is stronger but the antelope is the king of the forest’. The other two designs illustrate a water hole, which is a valuable resource, and therefore an admonition not to steal other people’s water; and the weighing scales refers to being weighed in the balance and found wanting.

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